MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company plans to migrate its on-premises workloads to the cloud. They will use Virtual Machines (VMs) for their legacy applications and a serverless computing service for new microservices. The cloud provider will manage the physical hardware, but the company is responsible for patching the operating system of the VMs. Which two cloud service models are being used?

Accepted Answer

IaaS and PaaS. The company uses Virtual Machines (VMs) for legacy applications, where it manages the OS patching while the cloud provider handles the physical hardware — this is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). For new microservices, it uses a serverless computing service, which is a form of Platform as a Service (PaaS) where the provider manages the runtime and scaling, and the company only deploys code. Therefore, the two models are IaaS and PaaS, making option A correct.

Answer

IaaS and SaaS

Answer

PaaS and SaaS

Question 2

A company runs a custom application on a cloud provider's infrastructure. The provider manages the physical servers, networking, and storage, but the company installs, configures, and patches the operating system and application. Which cloud service model is this?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). This scenario describes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) because the cloud provider manages the underlying physical infrastructure (servers, networking, storage), while the customer retains control over the operating system, middleware, and application. In IaaS, the customer is responsible for OS patching, configuration, and application management, which matches the given responsibilities.

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Function as a Service (FaaS)

Question 3

A company wants to use a cloud service where they only manage their data and user access, while the cloud provider handles everything from the physical infrastructure to the applications. Which cloud service model is this?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). This scenario describes Software as a Service (SaaS), where the cloud provider manages the entire stack—physical infrastructure, operating system, middleware, runtime, data, and applications—while the customer only manages their data and user access. In SaaS, the provider delivers fully functional applications over the internet, such as Microsoft 365, where users simply log in and use the software without any infrastructure or platform management responsibilities.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

On-premises deployment

Question 4

A cloud provider offers a service where customers can provision virtual machines, storage, and networks on-demand through a web portal. The customer is responsible for patching the guest operating system. Which cloud service model best describes this offering?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The correct answer is C (Infrastructure as a Service) because the customer provisions fundamental compute, storage, and networking resources on-demand, and retains control over the guest OS, including patching. In IaaS, the provider manages only the physical infrastructure (hypervisor, networking, storage hardware), while the customer is responsible for the OS and applications, matching the scenario exactly.

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Question 5

A development team wants to deploy a custom web application. They choose a cloud service that provides the operating system, web server, and database management system. The team is responsible only for uploading and managing their application code. Which cloud service model does this represent?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). This scenario describes Platform as a Service (PaaS) because the cloud provider manages the underlying infrastructure—operating system, web server, and database management system—while the development team is responsible only for deploying and managing their custom application code. PaaS abstracts the platform layer, allowing developers to focus on code without worrying about OS patches, web server configuration, or database administration.

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Answer

Function as a Service (FaaS)

Question 6

A marketing manager can access the company's cloud resources from her laptop at home, her tablet while traveling, and her smartphone. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this describe?

Accepted Answer

Broad network access. Broad network access means cloud resources can be accessed over standard network protocols (e.g., HTTPS, TLS) from a wide range of client devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The scenario explicitly describes access from multiple device types and locations, which is the defining characteristic of broad network access as per NIST SP 800-145.

Answer

Resource pooling

Answer

Scalability

Answer

Measured service

Question 7

A company runs its customer relationship management (CRM) system using a cloud provider's SaaS offering. They also use virtual machines (IaaS) from the same provider to host a legacy application. In this scenario, who is responsible for patching the operating system of the virtual machines?

Accepted Answer

The customer is responsible for patching the operating system of the virtual machines.. In an IaaS model, the cloud provider is responsible for the security of the physical infrastructure, hypervisor, and network, but the customer retains responsibility for the guest operating system and applications. Since the virtual machines are IaaS resources, the customer must manage OS patches, updates, and configuration. This follows the shared responsibility model, where the customer is accountable for anything they configure or deploy within the virtual machine.

Answer

The cloud provider is fully responsible for patching all components.

Answer

The cloud provider patches the OS for all services equally.

Answer

No patching is needed because the cloud handles everything.

Question 8

A company uses Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) from a cloud provider. They have deployed virtual machines running a custom application. The cloud provider supplies the physical hardware, networking, and storage. Who is responsible for patching the operating system of the virtual machines?

Accepted Answer

The customer. In an IaaS model, the cloud provider is responsible for the physical infrastructure (hardware, networking, storage), but the customer retains responsibility for the guest OS and application stack. Patching the operating system of virtual machines is a customer task because the customer controls the OS image and has full administrative access to the VM. This follows the shared responsibility model where the provider secures the hypervisor and physical layer, while the customer secures the OS and applications.

Answer

The cloud provider

Answer

Both the provider and the customer share equally

Answer

A third-party managed security service provider

Question 9

An administrator is reviewing a request from users who need to avoid buying servers upfront and pay monthly based on usage. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Operational expenditure (OpEx) model. The requirement to avoid upfront server purchases and pay monthly based on usage directly aligns with the operational expenditure (OpEx) model, a key cloud computing benefit. In cloud services, OpEx shifts costs from capital expenditure (CapEx) to a pay-as-you-go or subscription-based model, eliminating the need for large upfront hardware investments. This is a fundamental concept in Microsoft Azure and other cloud platforms, where resources like virtual machines are billed monthly based on actual consumption.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Question 10

During a Microsoft 365 planning workshop, host custom applications on virtual machines while managing the operating system. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides virtualized computing resources over the internet, including virtual machines where you can host custom applications and have full control over the operating system. This matches the requirement because IaaS gives you the flexibility to manage the OS, install custom software, and configure the environment without worrying about the underlying physical hardware.

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Hybrid cloud

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Question 11

A tenant administrator is advising a department that wants to deploy application code without maintaining the operating system or runtime platform. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS). PaaS lets developers focus on code while the provider manages the platform, runtime, and underlying infrastructure.

Answer

Private cloud

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Question 12

A business stakeholder asks how Microsoft 365 can help them use hosted email without managing mail servers. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Software as a Service (SaaS). Microsoft 365 delivers hosted email (Exchange Online) as a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, where Microsoft manages the mail servers, patches, and infrastructure. The stakeholder simply uses the service via a web browser or client without any server administration. This aligns with the SaaS model, which provides ready-to-use applications over the internet.

Answer

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Answer

Community cloud

Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Question 13

While preparing a Microsoft 365 adoption plan, a consultant is asked to add and remove capacity quickly when demand changes. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Rapid elasticity. Rapid elasticity is a core cloud computing concept defined by NIST (SP 800-145) that allows resources to be provisioned and released elastically, often automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand. In Microsoft 365, this means the consultant can quickly add or remove user licenses, storage, or service capacity via the admin center or PowerShell without manual hardware provisioning, directly matching the requirement to adjust capacity on demand.

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Question 14

A service owner is comparing Microsoft 365 capabilities and needs to meter compute and storage usage for consumption-based billing. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Measured service. Measured service is a core cloud computing concept where resource usage (such as compute and storage) is metered, tracked, and billed based on actual consumption. This directly matches the service owner's requirement for consumption-based billing, as Microsoft 365 uses metering for services like Azure Active Directory and Exchange Online to enable pay-as-you-go models.

Answer

Sensitivity labels

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Question 15

During requirements gathering, an IT manager says the organization must let users provision resources from a portal without provider interaction. Cloud concept or benefit best matches this requirement?

Accepted Answer

On-demand self-service. On-demand self-service is a core NIST-defined characteristic of cloud computing that allows users to provision computing resources—such as virtual machines, storage, or network capacity—automatically through a web portal or API without requiring human interaction from the service provider. This directly matches the IT manager's requirement for users to provision resources from a portal without provider interaction, making option A correct.

Answer

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Answer

Microsoft Planner

Answer

Sensitivity labels